Back to the topic:
I've recently read Richard's book from cover to cover (with a bit of skimming as you do with a reference book). It thoroughly deserves the accolade it receives in BeeCraft today.
I think it would be an excellent book to give out a BKA Introductory courses. Although the first half is about honey bees, the book is about really about keeping or supporting ALL bees in your garden. I'm sure many of you find in your conversations with the public that people often still think that keeping honey bees is one way to solve the insect crisis. People want to make a difference and this book will help them clarify exactly how they want to do that, especially if they are focussed on doing something in their own garden.
So, to the person who wrote above that this book is irresponsible, it really isn't. It is exactly what a responsible book about beekeeping should be like in the world as we now find it.
The first section (about 160 pages) is on keeping honey bees. To me it seems to say everything you need to know, and this forum will plug any gaps. Rickitt is never preachy. He covers a broad perspective of opinion and experience and avoids conflict. He is quite right in saying that you can successfully keep bees either way in the insulation-ventilation debate, and, if he's not aware of Martin Bencsik's research on queen piping, he tells his version in a humorous and charming way. As for forest fires and smoke, lots of people think one thing, and nobody knows for sure. But Richard's guidance on how to use smoke effectively is the most complete and sensible I have seen anywhere.
The second and third sections are on all our bumble and solitary bees and all the flowers they visit. He writes with the clarity and enthusiasm of someone who has lived with the subject for many years.
Okay, you get the message. But I can't finish without mentioning the photography which is almost entirely the work of the author. There are hundreds of pictures of many species of British bees, some very rare, and a comparable number pictures of flowers, frequently with an interesting bee visiting. Creating such a body of work is an exceptional achievement. The time and energy given to this task shine through not just in pictures, but in language which bubbles with the author's enthusiasm for gardens, flowers and bees.
